BERLIN - In the third quarter (Q3) of 2022, international automotive companies increased their operating profit by 28 percent year-on-year, consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY) said in a study published on Monday.

Both total revenues and profits of the 16 large car manufacturers that were analyzed reached their highest levels ever recorded in a third quarter, according to the study.

"Despite the slowing economy and a very difficult geopolitical situation, the third quarter was a dream quarter for the auto industry," Constantin Gall, managing partner and mobility leader at EY for the Europe West region, said in a statement.

In terms of revenues, Germany's largest carmaker Volkswagen led the ranking with 70.7 billion euros ($73.8 billion), followed by Toyota of Japan with 66.3 billion euros. Together with Mercedes, Volkswagen also achieved the highest profit of all companies analyzed.

"Good demand, particularly for premium vehicles, and high prices continue to provide the automotive industry with high revenues and profits," Gall said. "The supply of semiconductors is slowly improving, so passenger car production is picking up again."

Car sales in China, the world's largest sales market, were a "growth engine" for the entire industry, the study showed. Here, passenger car sales by the analyzed companies climbed by 11 percent, with German manufacturers even achieving growth of 28 percent.

In the United States, there was a slight increase of 1 percent, while sales in Western Europe declined by 3 percent, according to the survey.